Prophecies of the Sky
by EORS
Summary: Four young cats begin their journey, followed by strange happenings and unclear portents, struggling to find themselves when from birth they are set apart.
1. Prologue

Prologue

 _Goldenthorn struggled her way into_ the nursery, chest heaving as she lay on the cool moss. A whimper escaped her as her belly tightened, her claws ripping into the ground as she moved to the softest spot she could find before she relaxed, allowing her labor to continue as before.

"Are you sure you'll be okay without Sharpstone?" Sagefire had followed her into the nursery. She blinked at him lovingly, always appreciating the care he took with her.

"It's alright. It's instinct, and besides, Spiderheart promised she'd come and help. She just needed to go fetch some herb."

"Spiderheart's not a medicine cat." Sagefire worried.

A black shape loomed in the nursery entrance. "But I have given birth before, and I know a thing or two about complications." The lanky frame of the older queen slipped into the den. "If you're going to worry yourself to death you may wait outside. I'll let you know as soon as they're all born."

Sagefire hesitated, his mouth opening to voice another opinion. Spiderheart cut him off. "No. Get out of the way, she's going to be absolutely fine." Spiderheart settled by Goldenthorn, resting a bundle of leaves between her legs, framed by a white patch of chest fur. "Hopefully you won't need these, but preparedness typically pays off, particularly when health is on the line." She eyed Goldenthorn. "I'm not worried. You've had an easy pregnancy."

Goldenthorn, panting, nodded in agreement as she bit back a whine of pain. No need to make Sagefire more worried, she thought. She glanced around the nursery, glad that the other queens and kits were fast asleep and not waking up. She could do this quietly, she was determined to.

* * *

By the river, Clovermask sat staring at the water intently. Several minutes went by before he even moved. His paw darted and a flash of silver arced onto the bank. He trapped and killed the fish quickly and continued staring at the water. After several more minutes the same motion was repeated, the wriggling silver fish slapping the bank once before he killed it. He picked up his catch and took his time walking back to camp.

When he did enter camp, though, he ignored the fresh-kill pile and went straight to the den farthest from the entrance, where a she-cat could be heard whimpering. He dropped his kills and poked his head inside. "I brought you something." he muttered.

A white she-cat approached the entrance, her belly heavy with kits of her own. "Thanks, Clovermask. You should eat something too." she said, pawing the fish into the den. "Sparkheart's just taking a while, it happens sometimes. She'll be fine."

"Lightningstreak!" the moaning she-cat yelped from the dark of the den. Lightningstreak turned to attend to the other queen.

Clovermask continued to stand outside. "Yeah." he murmured. "I just wish a medicine cat were here to say the same." He glanced hatefully up at the half-moon- but the glance was short-lived, as he soon curled up in front of the nursery, his tail twitching nervously.

* * *

Hazelfern twined his tail with Apple-eye's. "It's a beautiful night," he purred, nuzzling his mate happily.

Apple-eye nodded. "The moor is beautiful." she replied, green eyes shining out, tiny half-moons reflected in them. She shifted slightly and sighed, wishing she could still race out over the long grasses- well, she could, but it was uncomfortable.

Hazelfern gently nudged Apple-eye. "Come on, soon enough you'll be able to go out again. I'll bring you the biggest rabbit I can find every day."

Apple-eye started to purr a reply but instead shut her eyes tight and tensed, skipping a breath as Hazelfern's heart skipped a beat. "Apple-eye?" He asked softly.

"They're coming." Apple-eye replied, gasping. "Help me get back to the nursery."

Hazelfern was already guiding her to her paws.

When they entered the nursery Apple-eye lay down with a whimper against another contraction. A tiny voice rose from beside another furry form.

"Apple-eye? Are you okay? You sound hurt-y." the tiny she-kit mewed, scrambling over her mother to trot over to the queen.

"I'll be fine, but can you wake up your mother? She'll be able to help me." Apple-eye suggested in a strained voice.

Bronzekit nodded cheerfully, bounding back to her mother and working to wake her up- not very hard, since she had only just drifted off. In the meantime, Hazelfern settled by Apple-eye's head, providing soothing licks.

Brownleaf padded over, blinking tiredness from her eyes. "Apple-eye? What's the matter? Oh, Hello Hazelfern, are the-" her eyes widened. "Oh. Bronzekit, can you move some of the moss to make Apple-eye's nest more comfortable? I need to go check Mudfoot's supplies for anything useful. And triple-check that the moss is completely clean with no thorns or rocks or anything. New kits are delicate."

Bronzekit gasped. "New kits!" she squealed, scrambling to find the best moss in the den.

"Quietly." Brownleaf scolded. "Cats are sleeping."

Bronzekit nodded, still gleeful as she pushed over wads of moss nearly as large as herself.

* * *

Lilywhisper nervously tore at the moss she lay on. "Are you sure it'll be alright? Even though Brighteye and Sedgepaw have gone to the Moonstone?"

Shiningpool chuckled softly. "Trust me, you'll be fine. You haven't had any problems, you're healthy, and I've helped birth kits more than I've given birth myself. I'm sure you'll do just fine. Would you like me to go wake Squirrelclaw now or fetch him afterwards?"

Lilywhisper squeaked. "Don't leave!" she gasped out. "I might start bleeding or something worse-"

"Alright, calm down, I'll go get him once they're born." Shiningpool laughed gently. She proceeded to sit close to Lilywhisper's head, her enlarged belly making her movements just a tad unwieldy. "They'll be strong like you and Squirrelclaw. It's very rare for families with histories of easy births to have problems. Now you shouldn't panic if there's a little blood, that's normal, and if you like I'll bite the kits free of their sacs for you. Would you like a stick to bite down on? Many mothers find that helpful when they're birthing." Shiningpool suggested.

After a moment's thought, Lilywhisper nodded. "I don't want to wake up the whole camp." she muttered.

"I'll be right back." Shiningpool promised smoothly.

Lilywhisper felt her heart racing and began counting the beats as Shiningpool left. She grew only more terrified, whimpering involuntarily around 100, though she soon heard Shiningpool's pawsteps once more and relaxed a little as Shiningpool lay a relatively smooth, strong stick by her head. "You're going to do fine." Shiningpool repeated gently. "Just relax."

* * *

Goldenthorn curled around her two newborn kits, dark, fluffy and slowly drying, guiding them to her belly. "Please let Sagefire in." she requested of Spiderheart- but the black she-cat wasn't paying attention.

"Goldenthorn, look." she whispered, breathless all of a sudden. "The she-kit."

"What about her?" Goldenthorn asked defensively, examining her kit more closely. She pulled back with a jerk. "No…" she murmured "Are those-" She looked up at Spiderheart, astonished.

Sagefire looked into the den. Seeing the dark bundled by his mate he padded over to greet the new kits, purring as he bent down to sniff them. He started, jerking back from the she-kit. " _What?_ " he hissed in shock. " _Wings?_ "

* * *

Lightningstreak appeared in the nursery opening. "Come in and meet your kits, Clovermask." she purred, stepping aside.

Clovermask pushed himself quickly to his paws, slipping by and settling beside Sparkheart, purring hard as he watched his kits suckle. Two toms and a she-kit. He nosed each in turn, learning their scents happily. Suddenly his eyes widened and he began examining his daughter more thoroughly. Sparkheart stopped purring- very little made Clovermask nervous. "What's the matter?" she mewed anxiously.

"Can you… would you take a close look at our daughter?" he asked in a strained voice. Sparkheart looked closer, nosing her. She jumped, upsetting the kits. The pair quickly guided them back to Sparkheart's belly, quieting the beginnings of wailing, then looked at each other.

"You saw them?" Clovermask asked tensely.

Sparkheart nodded. "She has wings. Somehow. It's impossible."

"You're kidding." Lightningstreak interrupted from eating her own fish, brought earlier by Clovermask. "Wings?"

* * *

Hazelfern finished licking his daughter warm and gently nudged her on unsteady legs to her mother's belly. "They're gorgeous." he murmured, admiring them and purring hard.

Bronzekit bounced impatiently. "Can I come look yet?" she asked- though she didn't wait for an answer before racing over to look at the three tiny kits suckling from Apple-eye. "They're so small. How come their eyes are closed?" she asked.

"Everyone is born with closed eyes. When they're ready they'll open them, and then you can play with them." Hazelfern explained.

"But if you're very, very careful and gentle you can come take a closer look at them." Apple-eye added kindly.

Bronzekit nodded. "Mama said, new kits are delicate." she replied, padding close and examining each kit in turn while their parents looked on, proudly but ready to protect their kits from accidents.

As Bronzekit was examining one of the toms, she looked up at Apple-eye. "How'd you give him wings?" she asked curiously. Apple-eye blinked, taken aback.

"Wings? Don't be silly, Bronzekit, no cats have wings. Birds have wings." Apple-eye replied.

"He has wings." she said, gently touching one of the toms with a paw. "Real small ones but they're there."

Hazelfern bent to examine the small greyish kit more closely. He looked up at Apple-eye in surprise. "Great StarClan, she's right."

"Impossible." Apple-eye breathed, bending down to look herself. "What does it mean?"

"What does what mean? Bronzekit, are you being good?" Brownleaf asked, padding closer.

"Yes mama!" Bronzekit raced around Hazelfern to go to Brownleaf. "But you'll never believe it, one of the new kits has wings!"

* * *

"Squirrelclaw! _Squirrelclaw!_ " Shiningpool hissed into the warrior's ear, shaking his shoulder. "Wake up!"

Squirrelclaw groggily pushed himself up. "I'm awake, am I on dawn patrol?" he asked uncertainly.

"Your mate has given birth." Shiningpool informed him. "But…" she trailed off, lost for words.

"What's the matter?" Squirrelclaw asked, snapping awake in a moment.

"You should really just come and see." Shiningpool said uncertainly.

"Is Lilywhisper alright? Are the kits?" he asked, getting to his paws and pushing out of the den. Shiningpool followed quickly, padding to his side.

"Yes, yes, they're fine…" Shiningpool mewed. "It's just… Well, you'll see in a moment."

Squirrelclaw raced ahead, entering the nursery and padding over to thoroughly examine his mate and kits.

"Squirrelclaw." Lilywhisper rasped. "The tom, he-" her voice failed her and Shiningpool mewed something about getting water as she left.

Squirrelclaw sniffed his kits, identifying the tom and examining him thoroughly- though he quickly found what had thrown his mate and Shiningpool- cool unflappable _Shiningpool_. He struggled with his voice, looking from his son to his mate in confusion. Finally he managed to choke out one word-

" _Wings_?"

* * *

As one, the medicine cats awoke. Sedgepaw scrambled to his paws, the others just a touch slower, particularly Brighteye, the eldest. They stared at each other uncertainly as the faint flat light of early dawn filtered in the cave roof. They all stood for a while watching each other. Finally Sedgepaw broke the silence.

"You were all there, right? We can talk about this!"

"No. We spoke a little in the dream and it will be enough." Mudfoot put in.

"It will have to do." Blacknose agreed. "You've been apprenticed quite a while now, you know the taboos."

Sedgepaw lowered his head slightly. "Yeah, I have to interpret it and let Brighteye decide what we're going to tell who until she-" he cut off, swallowing. "Sorry. That was bad. I mean, it's frustrating not talking about something everyone knows about!" He flexed his claws angrily.

Brighteye nudged her apprentice. "Come on, then, youngster." She mewed. "We're holding up our fellow medicine cats. We all have to get home, but we'll see them all at the Gathering and you can chat then." She headed for the exit, the cold making her even slower than usual.

Sharpstone glanced at Sedgepaw. "It may be frustrating but it's for the greater good, Sedgepaw. Sometimes what a Clan- or a cat- doesn't know is just as important as what they do."

Sedgepaw nodded and sighed, trotting after Brighteye, who was warming up and already partway up the passage.

* * *

 _Four must join in the only neutral place and be beacons hope in the darkest days; on the wings of the sun and the moon, light will always come, and the gentle rain will cool their fires as the sky binds all together._


	2. Allegiances

_Please know that these are the abbreviated allegiances, and that I have a full list of my own but these are the ones that will be at least mentioned in the first chapter. I plan to post updated allegiances every so often when significant changes are made or other character begin to become relevant. I will do my best to keep these consistent- please forgive me for errors and, if you would be so kind, point them out so I can fix them._

 _Cheers,_

 _-Theta Sigma (EORS)_

 **ThunderClan-**

Leader:

Leapstar- pale brown tabby with a white muzzle, throat, chest, belly, tail-tip and legs.

Deputy:

Witheredclaw- Dusty brown tom with amber eyes. Mates with Spiderheart. Kits: Shellpaw, Fernpaw, Ashleaf, Pigeonfeather, Pikeslip

Medicine Cat:

Sharpstone- dark gray tom with a white muzzle and tail-tip

Warriors:

Spiderheart- Black she-cat with one white marking on her chest and three white paws (not the back left). Green eyes. Mates with Witheredclaw. Kits: Shellpaw, Fernpaw, Ashleaf, Pigeonfeather, Pikeslip

Foxstalk- Solid ginger tom with green eyes.

Briarpaw

Thrushrise- Reddish tom with brown eyes, wiry build. Mates with Slatefall. Kits: Ravenkit, Redkit, Spottedkit

Sagefire- Gray tabby tom with green eyes. Mates with Goldenthorn. Kits: Skypaw, Briarpaw

Goldenthorn- Pale brown she-cat with lighter stripes and amber eyes. Mates with Sagefire. Recently moved back to warriors den. Kits: Skypaw, Briarpaw

Frostleaf- pale gray tortoiseshell with white paws and a white face

Wolfpaw

Hareslash- Cream tom with gray-brown patches and dark brown eyes. Mates with Dogfang. Kits: Risingkit

Honeybelly- Golden tabby with pale blue eyes.

Peppermouth- Grey dappled she-cat with a dark muzzle and very dark brown (almost black) eyes.

Skypaw

Ashleaf- Brown tabby tom with grayish stripes and striking green eyes.

Pigeonfeather- Dark tricolor she-cat with patches of grey and brown and piercing amber eyes.

Pikeslip- Mottled brown and black she-cat with dark amber eyes.

Apprentices:

Shellpaw- Solid black tom with amber eyes.

Fernpaw- Dusty brown she-cat with a white chest and three white paws (front right, backs), as well as a few white face markings and green eyes.

Driftpaw- she-cat

Fawnpaw- Dusty brown she-cat with green eyes.

Wolfpaw- Heavy gray tom with sea-blue eyes

Skypaw- Light brown she-cat with greyish flecks and pale green eyes.

Briarpaw- Pale brown tabby tom with greyish-brown markings

Queens and Kits:

Dogfang- dark brown she-cat, solid, with yellow eyes. Mates with Hareslash.

-Risingkit- Solid cream she-kit with amber eyes.

Slatefall - gray tabby she-cat with darker gray markings in thick, curling bands and green eyes. Mates with Thrushrise.

-Ravenkit- Dark she-kit with green eyes, no markings.

-Redkit- Reddish tom with green eyes, darker red tabby markings.

-Spottedkit- Calico she-kit with brown eyes.

* * *

 **RiverClan**

Leader:

Duckstar- Light brown colorpoint she-cat with light blue eyes

Medicine Cat:

Blacknose- greyish colorpoint tom with searching blue eyes

Warriors:

Sparkheart- Creamy she-cat with a gray patch on her chest and amber eyes. Mates with Clovermask. kits: Petalpaw, Marigoldpaw, Moonpaw

Clovermask- Black tom with white hind paws and a large white patch covering his face, with green eyes. Mates with Sparkheart. Kits: Petalpaw, Marigoldpaw, Moonpaw

Apprentices:

Tigerpaw- pretty calico with green eyes

Petalpaw- Off-white tom with dark gray patches and green eyes

Marigoldpaw- Pale ginger tom with greyish stripes and amber eyes

Moonpaw- Winged, black she-cat with a white chest spot and clear blue-gray eyes.

Queens and Kits:

Lightningstreak- White she-cat with a cream colorpoint pattern and yellow eyes

-Gorsekit- Solid gray tom with amber eyes

-Cloudkit- Darker cream colorpoint she-cat with green eyes

* * *

 **WindClan-**

Leader:

Lightstar- Tom with thin cream-colored fur and faint tabby markings contrasting dark amber eyes

Deputy:

Smallflame- Short-legged she-cat with bright calico fur and stern grayish eyes. Has a v in her ear and is notorious for her temper.

Medicine Cat:

Mudfoot- Brown tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes

Warriors:

Streamfall- light gray she-cat with dark-tipped long fur and sharp yellow eyes

Rainpaw

Apple-eye- Pale ginger she-cat with clear green eyes. Mates with Hazelfern. Kits: Grasspaw, Breezepaw, Rainpaw

Hazelfern- Gray tom with wide, swirling tabby markings and gentle blue eyes.

Brownleaf- Brown colorpoint she-cat with searching yellow eyes. Kits: Bronzepaw

Apprentices:

Bronzepaw- Light brown colorpoint she-cat with curious amber eyes

Grasspaw- Blue-gray tom with green eyes.

Breezepaw- Pale ginger tabby she-cat with a sharp blue gaze.

Rainpaw- Gray winged tom flecked with other shades of gray and brown, with pale blue eyes.

* * *

 **ShadowClan-**

Leader:

Aspenstar- light brown tabby tom with dark green eyes

Deputy:

Shadestep- Honest brown-gray she-cat with brown-amber eyes

Sunpaw

Medicine Cat:

Brighteye- Mostly white calico she-cat with amber eyes. She is getting on in years and is greying at the muzzle.

Medicine Cat Apprentice:

Sedgepaw- Dark silver tabby with amber eyes.

Warriors:

Squirrelclaw- Ginger tabby tom with very dark brown eyes. Mates with Lilywhisper. Kits: Swiftpaw and Sunpaw

Lilywhisper- Soft grey long-furred she-cat with amber eyes. Mates with Squirrelclaw. Kits: Swiftpaw and Sunpaw

Finchcry- Mottled brown tom with amber eyes. Mates with Shiningpool. Kits: Dustspots, Pinekit

Dustspots- Mottled brown tom with green eyes.

Apprentices:

Icepaw- powerful white tom with light blue eyes

Tanglepaw- Brown tabby she-cat with a white underside and dark green eyes

Swiftpaw- Gray tabby she-cat with medium-brown eyes

Sunpaw- Winged golden tabby tom with amber eyes

Queens and Kits:

Shiningpool- White she-cat green eyes. Mates with Finchcry. Kits: Dustspots, Pinekit

-Pinekit- Brown mottled she-cat with white patches and green eyes.


	3. Chapter 1 Part 1

Chapter 1

Part 1: Kithood

 _Skykit rolled over, opening her_ eyes and poking her brother. "Briarkit." She hissed softly. "Wake up- mom's asleep." Briarkit's eyes were instantly open, meeting hers with a grin.

"Let's go!" he hissed back cheerfully. The pair of them snuck out as quietly as they could manage. It was a little more difficult than it had been a moon ago when they had first snuck out together, because Dogfang had moved into the nursery with a growing belly. But now that camp was quiet they could escape through the dirtplace tunnel and explore even more.

Once they were outside, Skykit stretched her small wings and gave an experimental flap. Then she leaped into the air and did a nice warm-up lap around the small clearing and dropped back down to Briarkit. "Okay, let's try this again. Don't forget to jump, it makes it easier to get off the ground." She grasped his scruff in her mouth, using her front claws for a little extra grip, and braced her hind legs. Briarkit tensed, then said, "One, two three!" At which point the two both jumped, Skypaw lifting her face to avoid getting smacked in the muzzle. She began flapping wildly, pulling up as hard as she could, but even so they just sank slowly back to the ground. Exhausted, Skykit rolled away. "Nope. Not strong enough yet." She panted sadly. Briarkit shrugged. "At least we can still explore." He suggested lightly, and a moment later Skykit was back on her paws and the pair of them, side by side, began looking for a new piece of territory to look at. They found a large fallen log, and rather than go around it Skykit flapped up on top and when Briarkit jumped she pulled him up after her, and together they went down the opposite side.

Soon enough, Briarkit began shifting on his paws uncertainly. "We should head back." He mumbled. "Mom might wake up."

Skykit nodded- her heart was racing at the thought. "Yeah, let's go." She agreed, as they doubled back and followed their own scent trail back toward Dirtplace. As they neared, suddenly Skykit heard the faint sound of pawsteps. She nudged Briarkit, her eyes wide and together they hid under a bush as the cat on guard passed by. The pair pressed together, each trembling but trying hard not to shake any of the leaves. Skykit prayed hard that the smell of Dirtplace would sufficiently hide their scents until the warrior passed by.

A wail went up in camp. The nighttime guard froze and raced back in. "Come on!" Skykit hissed, racing towards Dirtplace. "Foxdung foxdung _foxdung!_ " Briarkit was whispering as he raced beside her. Together they slowed as they reached the Dirtplace, trotting quickly into camp as if they had only just gone there and back (as they had planned after their first excursion resulted in a close shave).

"Mama?" Skykit mewed as she bounded over to their mother, who was speaking quickly and frantically to the cat who had been on guard. "What's the matter?" Added Briarkit nervously.

"Oh you're alright!" Goldenthorn meowed, sweeping them up with her tail and pressing them tight to her. "I woke up and your scents were cold! Wherever were you two?"

Briarkit shrugged. "Dirtplace." He mewed. Skykit nodded. "We were gone a little longer than normal 'cause I thought I saw some shadows moving and maybe it was Shadowclan and I was scared, only later Briarkit figured out it was just trees' and leaves' shadows." She supplied as Briarkit puffed out his chest.

"Well, if you need to do that again, wake me up and tell me, okay?" Goldenthorn scolded. "I don't think your clanmates appreciate being panicked in the middle of the night."

Skykit looked around and flattened her ears. Leapstar had appeared, along with a couple warriors and half the apprentices. Most milled around, confused, as Leapstar approached them. "Foxstalk, aren't you on duty? Goldenthorn, what's the matter?" she asked briskly.

"I was, when I heard Goldenthorn yowl." Foxstalk explained. "It's just her kits being scared of the dark. They're back now." He padded off at Leapstar's nod of dismissal.

"I'm not afraid of the dark!" Skykit mewed indignantly. "I thought it was Shadowclan coming to eat us!" She flattened her ears and crouched under Leapstar's stare.

"Try not to panic your mother. We warriors need rest, as do you two, if you want to grow strong and become warriors too." She said, then moved off to return the rest of the clan to their nests.

Goldenthorn swept them both back to the nursery where Skykit and Briarkit grudgingly curled up once more, actually very tired this time, and they were soon asleep.

Skykit woke up late the next morning. Yawning tiredly she opened her eyes again to find the nursery empty except for Briarkit, still asleep. She would have stayed put, except her grumbling belly reminded her that she hadn't eaten for a long time. She stumped outside and looked around for Goldenthorn to ask if she could take some fresh-kill now, or if she'd have to wait to share it with Briarkit. She supposed she could leave it for when he woke up, but she wanted to make sure it was okay with her mother- especially since she might suspect how far they'd actually gone out of camp last night. Better try and seem obedient, she supposed. She didn't like sneaking around, but she hated all the restrictions that came with being a kit, rules like _Don't leave camp, Don't go in the warriors', leader's, medicine cat's, or apprentices' dens, Don't disturb the elders, Don't disturb the warriors if they're on duty, Don't disturb Dogfang, Make sure someone always knows where you are, Don't make trouble,_ and on and on and on… She had no independence and no rights. She couldn't wait until she was six moons old (Three moons to go! She had no idea how she would make it). She flapped her wings, rising up to see if her mother was somewhere she couldn't see from the ground. Spotting her with Sagefire, she flapped over the heads of the various cats around camp and settled by her parents. "Mom, Dad, may I have some fresh-kill? I'll leave the leftovers for Briarkit." She mewed.

"Don't fly too high." Goldenthorn said automatically. "Make sure a warrior could reach you and pull you down if they needed to."

Skykit sighed. "I know mom, but may I eat?" she asked, slightly frustrated.

"Of course, Skykit." Sagefire said dotingly, his tail curling around her small body. "But eat in the nursery so it'll be neater if you save some for your brother."

Skykit nodded, nuzzled Sagefire and leaped back into the air, keeping within paw-reach of the warriors but clear of their heads. She glided over the kill pile, grabbed a squirrel off the top and flapped harder, the weight of the animal barely smaller than herself- well a bit smaller discounting the tail- dragging her down even as she fought to keep in the air. _Still,_ she thought grumpily as she bobbed with each flap, _neater and more dignified than dragging it along the ground_. She landed just outside the nursery, the squirrel thumping on the ground as she dragged it inside, over by her sleeping brother, and dug in. It was way too huge to finish by herself, although she could have eaten a few more bites after just half its meat. But she left the carcass by Briarkit and went out to see if any of the apprentices would play with her. A few of them were lying outside the apprentice's den, so she approached on her paws so they could hear her coming.

A heavy gray tom looked up at her approach as did a grey-patched white she-cat. The rest seemed to be tiredly sunning themselves and didn't interest themselves in her.

"Hey Skykit." Wolfpaw purred, his long-furred tail twitching as he settled his blue eyes on hers. "What's up?"

Skykit shrugged. "Briarkit's asleep and I'm bored." She replied, sitting by him. "I was wondering if you would help me get stronger. See, we wanted to see if I could take him flying but my wings aren't strong enough yet." She looked hopefully up at Wolfpaw.

Wolfpaw looked thoughtful. "We could make up a game for that." He mewed slowly. "Maybe something similar to the bird-hunting game."

Driftpaw snorted and shook her head, shooting Skykit a look she didn't understand and putting her head down. Skykit shrugged it off, assuming she just didn't want to be disturbed.

"I've got it." Said Wolfpaw. "Stay here a minute." He trotted off to the camp entrance and vanished through the tunnel a moment later. Skykit flopped down boredly.

"What is it with you?" Skykit suddenly heard. She looked up at Driftpaw, who had asked the question.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Just because you have wings doesn't mean you get to start training moons early. Why do you think you're so special?" She asked sharply.

"I- I just want to play…" Skykit mewed, uncertain of herself suddenly.

"Training and playing aren't the same thing." Driftpaw hissed. "Go back to the nursery and wait your turn."

"Don't you think you're being too harsh?" Shellpaw had lifted his head, amber eyes tired but gentle. "All of us tried learning the hunting crouch when we were kits, this isn't really different. Besides, motivation isn't bad." He looked at Skykit. "Don't feel badly. You're setting yourself up for success, even if all you want to do is play and take your brother flying. It's a great idea to strengthen yourself, and Wolfpaw has a way of making games helpful. If I wasn't so sore from battle training I'd help out, but right now the sun is really all I want." He smiled at Skykit and rested his head back on his paws, closing his eyes against the shaft of sun he lay in.

Skykit sat up, thinking, not sure what to think. Driftpaw had turned away, but Skykit wasn't sure she hadn't been wrong. Kits weren't supposed to train until they were six moons, that much she knew (another part of the endless restrictions) but Shellpaw was also right, the way Wolfpaw was teaching her was only in games, and surely it couldn't be bad if she was going to do better in training? But she wasn't supposed to train…

Caught in the conundrum, she didn't notice Wolfpaw pad up with a couple small to medium sized rocks until he dropped them nearby. "Something the matter, Skykit?" he asked her.

"Is this training, and is training like this breaking the Code?" she asked him, staring at her paws as she continued screwing up her brains to figure out if she was breaking the Code and whether that was a good thing or not.

Wolfpaw chuckled. "It's not training, but you're going to learn and get better anyway; better sooner than later. We're not breaking the Code. Who told you that?"

"Driftpaw." Wolfpaw glanced at the patched apprentice, who seemed to be asleep.

"Well, don't worry about it." He mewed aloud, and in a low purr, so that none of the other apprentices would hear, he added "I think she's just jealous she didn't get to play our games when she was your age."

Skykit giggled. "What game did you come up with?" she asked, looking at the rocks he had brought.

"Well, it's a bit of a work in progress and we'll have to improve it as we go, but this is what I have so far: you take as large of a rock as you want. Then you drop it, and try to catch it before I bat it away. The thing is, the larger rocks will be harder for you to catch, so I brought some smaller ones to start." Wolfpaw lined up the rocks by size and waited for Skykit.

Skykit looked at the three stones and took the middle one- the small one just seemed insultingly small but the large one looked to big for her to catch in the air. Flapping hard, she pulled it off the ground after her, hovering above Wolfpaw a little ways away from the other apprentices so the rock wouldn't accidentally hit one of them if Wolfpaw got to it first. "Ready?" she called down to her gray friend.

"Don't warn me- agility is about reacting fast even when I'm surprised. That's my job today while you strengthen your wings." Wolfpaw replied, waiting slightly out from under her, his eyes not leaving the rock in her paws.

Skykit nodded, waited a moment, and then let go of the small rock. It plummeted and she folded her wings, plummeting after it- but she veered away from Wolfpaw's swinging paw and instead steered to pick up the stone as it skipped and rolled to a halt.

"Don't touch the ground!" Wolfpaw suggested from where he waited. "The longer you fly the stronger you'll get!" Skykit nodded, once more dragging up the rock to a position above Wolfpaw. Again she dropped it, reaching out and feeling her claws scrape the sides. She gripped it tightly, pulling it close to her chest and away from Wolfpaw as she struggled to redirect her groundward momentum. She managed not to crash, but instead landed gently but awkwardly on the ground on top of her rock.

"The goal was to bring it back up." Wolfpaw mewed, amused. "How come you landed with it instead?"

"I was trying." Skykit sputtered. "It's heavy and it's already hard enough to pull out of dives when I'm only dragging my own self around." She flapped back into the air, when-

"Are you dropping rocks on Wolfpaw?" demanded a sharp voice. Skykit looked towards Goldenthorn and slowly drifted to the ground.

"It's a game, Mama, I'm getting stronger and he's getting…" she searched for a word. "Agility-er."

"No. No dropping rocks. It's not safe." Goldenthorn mandated, shooting a look at Wolfpaw. "If you want you can go back to your hunting games but no more of this. Rocks stay on the ground."

"Yes mama." Skykit said quietly. Part of her was disappointed for disappointing her mother, but part of her seethed at the ending of a game that seemed like it could get a lot better once they figured out more ways to make it hard.

Goldenthorn padded a little ways away, watching them from by the nursery.

Wolfpaw nudged the sulking kit. "We can still chase birds." He suggested slyly. "I think they're feeling flighty today."

Skykit perked up. "You got a mossball?" she asked.

"Practice the crouch first, and I'll get one to toss for you." Wolfpaw promised.

Skykit crouched, trying to remember all the details of the crouch. Tail up, weight back, paws light…

Wolfpaw returned and smiled. "That's pretty good, Skykit. Want to try moving a little?"

Skykit nodded, slowly padding forward a little.

"Mind your tail, it's drooping a bit. And your paws are a touch too heavy." He mewed, gently critical.

She raised her tail and attempted treading as lightly as she could, though it slowed her to a bare crawl. A slug could have beaten her in a race.

"Try not to lift your paws so high. The lower they stay, the less impact they'll make even if you move faster than a rock." He said, crouching and seeming to pull himself along the ground his paws seeming to slide across the dust of the camp's floor.

She copied him, sometimes her paw too high and thudding, sometimes her paw too low and rustling against the ground.

"You'll get it." Wolfpaw promised, pawing up the mossball. "Ready?"

Before Skykit could answer he had flicked it into the air, sailing away. She leaped after it, snatching it out of its path with her claws. Then she tossed it over Wolfpaw's head, and he leaped for it as she glided back to him.

This continued on for a time until Skykit noticed Briarkit bounding towards them and she landed to greet him.

"Hey Briarki-"

"Skykit! Skykit, Dogfang's having kits! We're not gonna be the youngest anymore!" he yelped, barreling into her happily. He rolled away from her and stood up. "Oh hey Wolfpaw. Sharpstone says I can't stay in the nursery and watch since I'll get under his paws so can you teach me something? I think if I stand still too long I'll explode."

"Kits?" Skykit squeaked. "Yes! I can't wait to meet them!" She bounced on her paws, making small noises because she couldn't contain herself.

"Well, you know, that means."

"What?" Briarkit asked, and Skykit stopped her bouncing to listen to Wolfpaw.

"You guys have to defend them. They're smaller then you."

"But we don't know any fighting mo- Ohhhh!" Skykit stopped herself mid-sentence with a grin.

Wolfpaw grinned back. "See if you two can take me. After all, there're twice as many of you as m-" he was cut off with a grunt as Briarkit suddenly leaped at him. Skykit jumped too, flapping to gain some height before dropping onto the staggering apprentice's back. Wolfpaw struggled to find his paws as Briarkit battered his shoulder, but he managed to say "no claws!" before Skykit could attack his ears. She paused and instead climbed up to his head, hanging on and doing her best to balance as she tried to hinder his hearing and vision by swatting gently at his face.

Wolfpaw couldn't balance enough for a counterattack, so instead he rolled away from Briarkit, which shook off Skykit. He was on his paws in a moment, leaping over Skykit to tackle Briarkit, who didn't dodge fast enough.

"Get off my brother!" Skykit yowled, leaping for Wolfpaw and trying to pull him off of Briarkit. She wasn't nearly strong enough to do so, but Wolfpaw let her pull him away after a moment.

He collapsed on top of her, moaning "You're too strong for me!" and closing his eyes.

"Hey!" Skykit protested, battering at him awkwardly. "Get off!"

Briarkit shook himself and leaped at Wolfpaw. "Get off her!" he yowled, grabbing Wolfpaw's scruff and dragging at him, trying to pull him off of Skykit. Wolfpaw grudgingly got up, freeing Skykit, who heaved herself up and glared at Wolfpaw. "No fair, you're too big for us to beat!" she complained.

Wolfpaw shrugged. "You could beat me if you tried to do something besides just attack me. You could try and throw me off somehow, so I can't fight back as easily, and you could try harder to dodge my attacks rather than just take the brunt of them. You're small so you have to be fast and sneaky."

Skypaw nodded and dashed straight at him- apparently ignoring his words- but ducked under his chest, ramming a back leg as she escaped from under him. Wolfpaw staggered and turned on her, as Briarkit leaped onto his back, batted at the back of his head, and leaped away. Wolfpaw turned on him as Skykit dove under his front paws, forcing him to stumble, and Briarkit took the opportunity to shove his hind paws out from under him. Wolfpaw fell on his side, and the kits scrambled on top of him to hold him down.

"Ha! We got you!" Briarkit yowled triumphantly.

"Ha!" Skykit agreed. "We win!" She jumped off him and pranced a little.

"Told you." Wolfpaw meowed, getting to his paws once more after Briarkit let him go. "Size and strength aren't the only things that matter in battle."

"But they really help." Skykit groaned, flopping on her side. "It's hard to beat a bigger, stronger cat. If you mess up you'll get beaten to a pulp. Or worse, squashed."

Briarkit grinned and Wolfpaw chuckled.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Wolfpaw replied, looking off innocently into space.

"Yeah, neither does my chest." Skykit replied sarcastically.

"Well, we can rest now, if you like. I'm a bit tired from the pummeling I just received, myself." Wolfpaw said agreeably.

Briarkit sighed. "Come on, guys, can you at least toss the mossball for me? You've been playing longer than me and it's not fair."

"Ask nicely and of course I will." replied Wolfpaw, sitting down.

"Would you please?" Briarkit asked, and Wolfpaw complied.

They played for a while and Skykit watched. She was just about to join in again when Goldenthorn called them over to the nursery.

"Come on, Wolfpaw, if it's the new kits I'm sure Dogfang wouldn't mind you seeing." Briarkit suggested as he and Skykit ran off to the nursery.

"Oh, hello, Wolfpaw." Goldenthorn greeted the apprentice. "Do you want to meet the new kit as well?"

"Only if it won't be too crowded." He meowed respectfully.

"Well, perhaps you should wait for Leapstar to come out." Goldenthorn suggested. "The nursery isn't very big, after all."

Wolfpaw nodded and took a seat outside. Skykit and Briarkit had already slipped inside to look at the new addition to the nursery.

"She's so small." Skykit mewed wonderingly.

"She'll grow very soon." Dogfang explained.

"She will be an excellent addition to ThunderClan one day." Leapstar agreed. "Thank you for letting me see her." She dipped her head, and Hareslash returned the gesture, though the older kits and Dogfang didn't see as their attention was wholly on the kit.

"What's her name gonna be?" Briarkit asked.

Dogfang and Hareslash looked at each other. "We haven't decided yet." meowed Dogfang finally.

The she-kit finished suckling and curled up against Dogfang, sound asleep.

"I remember when you were that tiny." mewed Wolfpaw's voice, who had come up behind the kits. Skykit jumped but said nothing. "It was only a couple of nights before I was made an apprentice. I can't believe it's only been three moons, it feels like ages."

Briarkit nodded. "I want to be an apprentice now, but some dead cat ages ago decided it was against the rules." He snorted.

"Briarkit, be more respectful of StarClan." Goldenthorn reprimanded. Softening, she added, "You may feel ready, but you're too small to keep up with the long warrior days and your bodies aren't hardy enough yet."

Briarkit ducked his head and grumbled something incoherent.

Skykit was getting bored. "How long till she opens her eyes?" she asked, staring at the kit still.

"Oh, she won't open them for days yet. Patience, Skykit, no one opens their eyes soon. She will when she's ready." Dogfang meowed.

"Time to give the new family a little peace, I think." Goldenthorn interjected. "Go play, kits, and Wolfpaw, I don't mind if you play too so long as your mentor isn't wondering where you are."


	4. Chapter 1 Part 2

Part 2: Pawsteps

Skykit rocked on her paws, feeling antsy. She and Briarkit had turned six moons and she knew that Leapstar would have to apprentice them and she just wished everyone would get up more quickly so that Leapstar would call the meeting.

"Nervous?" asked Goldenthorn, smiling proudly.

"As if!" Briarkit mewed from beside Skykit.

"Can't wait." she added. "Six moons takes forever."

"Three more moons for me." grumbled Risingkit from the nursery entrance.

"If it's three more moons for you…" started Redkit, beside her siblings- Slatefall had kitted a litter of three and they had been crowding up the nursery for a while now.

"That's four for us." Ravenkit told her brother as their sister Spottedkit looked at them in awe.

"That'll be forever!" Redkit complained.

"I'll come back and teach you stuff I learn." Skykit promised, and Briarkit nodded. "Me too."

"I heard someone was going to be crowding in on the apprentice's den, starting today." Wolfpaw had approached with a smile.

"It can't be that crowded since Fernblaze and Shellcloud got named." Skykit objected. "We'll be filling it back up in time for you older apprentices to ditch us for the warriors' den." She grinned at Wolfpaw. "You've been an apprentice for a long time, you'll be named before the next Gathering, I bet."

"You're on. Not before the next half-moon, to give you more of a margin." Wolfpaw replied cheerfully.

"Whoever loses does the other's chores for a day. Since if I lose you'll still be an apprentice." Skykit suggested.

Wolfpaw nodded just as Leapstar jumped onto the Highrock.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" she yowled. Those cats still milling around sat down and paid attention. "Today we welcome two new apprentices into Clan life. Briarkit, come forward."

Briarkit obeyed, trembling with excitement. Leapstar continued. "From this moment until the day you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Briarpaw. Your mentor will be Foxstalk." Briarpaw moved as if to go touch noses with Foxstalk, but halted quickly as Leapstar spoke again. "Foxstalk, you have shown your cunning and courage, and I expect you to pass on all you know to this apprentice." Leapstar finished, and this time Briarpaw paused a moment before dashing to Foxstalk to touch noses.

Leapstar paused, and Skykit waited, looking up at her, only now apprehensive. "There are times in every generation of cats that challenge what we think we know and the way we do things. Skykit, come forward."

Now Skykit was scared. Was she not going to be allowed a normal apprenticeship because she had a couple extra appendages? She prayed to StarClan like never before, she just wanted to be a warrior, not even deputy or leader, she just wanted to be able to live life normally. It was bad enough that some cats like Driftpaw thought she thought she was special and that they resented any allowances made for her wings, she didn't want to be completely different.

"However," continued Leapstar, "not every change merits drastic responses, and as the future cannot be predicted as accurately as we might hope, for some changes we must simply allow ourselves to be flexible and face challenges as they come. Skykit, from this moment until the day you receive your warrior name you will be known as Skypaw. Peppermouth will be your mentor. Peppermouth, you have shown yourself to be creative and courageous, and I expect you to pass down all your skills to this apprentice." Leapstar nodded, indicating she was done as Skypaw touched noses with the grey-dappled warrior that had approached her.

"Briarpaw! Skypaw! Briarpaw!" cheered most of the crowd- though Skypaw noted that a few among them seemed uncertain about cheering for her, or, like Driftpaw, outright only cheered for Briarpaw. But she was glad to see that it seemed to be only a few cats.

Cats began dispersing, the dawn patrol going for a nap as the rest of the warriors and apprentices broke into training and hunting parties, as well as one more border patrol.

Peppermouth drew Skypaw over by Briarpaw and Foxstalk. "Today we'll show you the territory, and teach you a few basics- I know you probably already know some but we need to see where you are and if you've actually successfully learned the basics." Foxstalk meowed.

Peppermouth went on. "But training will wait until later in the day. For now, you need to know the lay of the territory and where we stand with the other clans. Politics are one of those things that are incredibly boring but so important. There will be a Gathering soon and you must know how to behave around the other Clans- which can currently be trusted and which are trying to harm us. Come along, we'll explain more along the way." She started off out the camp entrance, Foxstalk a pace behind, the apprentices running to keep up. They skidded out the main entrance and stared up the ravine. They hadn't expected it, as the dirtplace exit was shallower and easier to escape from. The warriors were leaping upwards easily. Skypaw jumped into the air, flapping partway up. "Come on, Briarpaw." She meowed. He jumped up to her and she dragged him on, and like that they scrambled up to the top of the ravine, where their mentors were waiting for them.

"Skypaw, I understand you're a little small to manage the climb, but try to avoid using your wings. Someday you may not be able to use them and you have to be able to use your paws." Peppermouth instructed. "Come along. We'll start with the far border."

They traveled swiftly through the forest, Skypaw keeping her wings folded- partly because she understood Peppermouth's point, but partly out of shame. It was unfair to Briarpaw that she could take a break from running whenever she wanted and he couldn't, so she wasn't going to.

Eventually they slowed, and Skypaw wrinkled her nose. "What's that smell?"

"That's the smell of the Thunderpath. Monsters travel along it, carrying Twolegs in their bellies between all the Twoleg nests. Don't go over there, it's incredibly dangerous- they keep dogs, they like catching cats and taking them away to live as kittypets, and that's if you don't get killed by a monster." Foxstalk explained. The apprentices nodded. "No Clans live along this border, and it's as far from Fourtrees as you can get. That direction leads to RiverClan, but first we're going to head to ShadowClan. It's important that you know their scent, because for the past few moons we've had very tense relations and some in the Clan believe it will result in war."

"Why?" asked Briarpaw.

Peppermouth answered. "They've been claiming that their territory is running low on prey and they need to expand into our territory- they make similar claims every so often but they seem prepared to back their claims with claws and teeth. We may have to defend ourselves from them very soon."

They travelled beside the Thunderpath for a ways, one of the warriors occasionally stopping to renew scent markers. After quite a long time, in which period the warriors had given a general history of the Clans and recent relations with the other three, the scent line turned slightly away from the Thunderpath. Skypaw breathed a sigh of relief as the scent faded. Suddenly, the warriors halted, and the apprentices caught up, standing beside them and looking down at the grove of trees at the base of the hill.

"This is Fourtrees." Foxstalk meowed. "Here we hold Gatherings. Rest a bit while we explain the rules of the Gatherings."

Skypaw withheld her groan at the thought of new rules to follow and took the opportunity to rest her tired paws.

Eventually they were off again, following the river and learning about RiverClan. They rested once more as they passed Sunningrocks, Foxstalk going over how they used to be part of the river and now they were contested by each Clan. Eventually they reached Treecut place and finished their circle of the territory at Twolegplace, returning to camp.

"You two can have a bite to eat, and as soon as we're all ready we'll go to the training hollow and see what you already know." Peppermouth meowed as they entered camp.

The apprentices nodded and went to the fresh-kill pile, where Briarpaw chose a rabbit, which they shared in front of the apprentices' den.

"Take your time, my pads are really sore." Skypaw hissed.

"Really?" Briarpaw asked, surprised. "Mine are already feeling much better."

Skypaw sighed and bent her head to the rabbit, eating as slowly as she reasonably could. Thinking back, she realized she hadn't spent as much time walking around as Briarpaw- was that why she was having a harder time than he was? And she'd been feeling guilty about being able to take a load off whenever she liked!

Peppermouth returned when Skypaw and Briarpaw were nearly finished with the rabbit. "Ready to go?" She asked. Briarpaw sprang to his paws excitedly, while Skypaw pushed herself up more sedately.

"I guess." Skypaw mumbled as Briarpaw exclaimed "I was born ready!"

Skypaw sighed and tried to perk up. Her paws didn't hurt nearly so badly, though this time the climb out of the ravine left her panting, though she stubbornly refused to break down and fly. _I can run and keep running just as well as Briarpaw,_ she repeated over and over in her head. _I have to. I'm going to be a warrior._

"Alright." Foxstalk meowed as they reached the training hollow. "Do you two know the hunting crouch?"

Skypaw nodded as they both dropped into their best crouches, which were okay after all that Wolfpaw had taught them, but they both had poor balance. Peppermouth adjusted their positions before saying, "try stalking forward now."

Skypaw moved forward, constantly correcting her balance, tail position, and trying to step more softly, meaning she was stopping often and moving slow.

Briarpaw was moving more quickly, though his walk was unbalanced and lopsided.

Foxstalk shook his head. "You've got a good handle on the crouch, but your stalking motions need work still." He meowed. "Let's see what else you know. Have you learned any fighting moves?"

Skypaw looked at Briarpaw. "Not really." She meowed.

"I mean, some of the apprentices play-fought with us and gave us pointers, but no specific moves really." Briarpaw agreed.

"Well, try to take me down." Peppermouth suggested. "We'll see how you do."

Skypaw glanced at Briarpaw, who met her gaze and blinked. He darted off to one side while Skypaw charged directly. As she expected, Peppermouth reared up, and she dove to get under her paws and knock her down- but the Peppermouth _jumped over her_. She skidded to a halt and turned, charging again, this time leaping slightly higher, paws reaching out to land on Peppermouth's back-, but this time Peppermouth dodged away, a flying hind paw sending Skypaw rolling away. Skypaw recovered, and hearing a grunt that was not her own, saw Briarpaw had barreled into Peppermouth's side and was hanging onto her back. Skypaw saw her go down for a roll and took the opportunity to race in and jump on Peppermouth's belly, fake-clawing it and leaping away as Peppermouth kicked out.

"Stop, stop." Peppermouth called out, pulling Briarpaw to his paws and stopping Skypaw from rising further into the air- she had been planning a drop attack. "Come on down." She added, and Skypaw obeyed, landing neatly beside Briarpaw and bracing herself for a scolding.

"While you both have little form or direction for your energies, you are both intelligent fighters and despite not knowing how to work your best as a pair, have evident potential. Skypaw, use your wings more- if you can get higher than your enemies can reach, you can get away from them where they can't chase you. Briarpaw, as long as you're still small your attacks need to focus less on the _hit_ and more on the _run_. When you get larger, you might be able to wrestle down an opponent, but being speedy and unexpected, even if each attack is less powerful, will make you a more effective fighter." Peppermouth said, smiling.

Skypaw was confused, as she'd been expecting to be told not to use her wings since Briarpaw couldn't, or to get a breakdown of everything they'd done wrong. _Huh._ Skypaw thought.

"We'll have you spar against each other and other apprentices, so you can learn how to fight against someone your own size, and eventually against younger apprentices so you can learn how to fight off smaller cats who will use hit-and-run tactics against you. But for now, Briarpaw, I'd like to do some one-on-one training with you." Foxstalk said, padding away. Briarpaw followed, looking back at Skypaw, who smiled and waved her tail to indicate she didn't mind, she'd be fine on her own with Peppermouth.

When they had gone, Peppermouth looked down at Skypaw. "I'm going to give you some advice, Skypaw." She said. "You're special. Different. Quite obviously chosen by StarClan for something. But your brother and your friends might not be. It will be easy for them, one day, to resent that, so I'm going to tell you now to be the best friend you can possibly be to your brother and your friends, and your path will be so much easier to walk."

Skypaw stared wide-eyed at Peppermouth. "U-um. Okay." She replied.

"And if any cat is giving you real trouble, you come talk to me, okay?" She mewed, smiling at her apprentice. "I like you whole and sound, body and mind."

* * *

Weeks passed, but so far Skypaw's life seemed to be going better than the worst-case scenario Peppermouth had presented her. She had Wolfpaw, and Briarpaw, who seemed a touch more distant, though this was because more often than not Foxstalk insisted on training him separately. Instead, Skypaw was more often training with Driftpaw, Fawnpaw or Wolfpaw, if Peppermouth trained her with other apprentices.

In general, the patrols were quiet, though Skypaw noticed that some of the warriors seemed particularly tense when they patrolled the ShadowClan border.

One such time, as she, Peppermouth, Wolfpaw, his mentor Frostleaf, Honeybelly, Pigeonfeather, and Pikeslip had all been assigned to patrol the border together (Skypaw had been concerned about the size of the patrol, though the warriors were all their normal relaxed selves for the most part), Skypaw found herself being dragged sideways into a bush by Peppermouth. She wriggled around and peeked out from under the bush, watching the Thunderpath. "What's going on?" She hissed quietly to Peppermouth.

"There's a very large ShadowClan patrol on the other side, and they look as if they're going to cross. Pray that they don't, because they outnumber us by at least two to one, maybe more." Peppermouth mewed.

"Don't worry, Skypaw, I'm sure it'll be fine." Wolfpaw hissed from her other side. "Great big load of foxhearted cowards, ShadowClan, they really-" but his voice failed. Skypaw flinched as the ShadowClan warriors crossed the Thunderpath and spread out along the ThunderClan side.

"Skypaw, go back to camp for help as quickly as you can. Now. Don't let them see you go." Peppermouth hissed.

Skypaw lingered. "You'll be overwhelmed!" she protested.

"You don't know how to fight properly yet! The quicker you're back with reinforcements, the better off we'll be." Growled Wolfpaw.

With one last nervous look, Skypaw fled, getting well into the forest before taking off and flying at top speed over and around any obstacles, over the ravine and directly into camp. "We're in trouble!" She yowled, standing between the warriors' and leader's dens. "ShadowClan are attacking our patrol along the Thunderpath, you have to help!"

Warriors sprang to their paws and Leapstar came out of her den. "Lead the way, Skypaw, and tell me all about it on the way." She meowed, swiftly running for the exit. Skypaw nodded, leaping into the air and following above Leapstar and the quickest warriors until they reached the top of the ravine. She dropped to a height where she could fly and she wouldn't crash into the warriors. "They were crossing a few at a time when I left, amassing their forces on our side. We were in the bushes so they didn't know how few we were, so they were hanging back, but I could see that there were plenty on the far side waiting to cross." She meowed quickly. Leapstar nodded.

"When we get close, drop down and run with us. Hang back during the fight and help the heavily wounded get out of the way." She ordered. "You haven't been training long enough to be a part of a fight as hard as this may become."

Skypaw dropped to the ground and ran full-pelt the last several foxlengths, slowing only because there were no sounds of battle- only strong ShadowClan scent. She found Wolfpaw quickly and settled beside him. "What's happened since I left?" she hissed.

"We pretended to retreat and hid, now they've laid their scent markers and they're waiting to see if we come defend our border." Wolfpaw whispered back. "Thank StarClan you were so quick." He gave her a quick lick on the ear.

Leapstar approached out in the open, fury bushing out her tail and fur. "I give you this one chance to go back across the Thunderpath." She growled.

A light brown tabby with dark green eyes, who seemed to Skypaw like an important cat, laughed. "This is our rightful territory, Leapstar. We will defend it as such."

"So be it, Aspenstar. I had hoped you would see reason." Leapstar meowed. "ThunderClan, attack!"

"Stay back, please." Wolfpaw told Skypaw again, looking at her.

"Leapstar gave me orders. I have to." Skypaw mewed with a grumble. Wolfpaw touched her cheek gently with his tail.

"There will be other battles, I'm sure, unfortunately." He meowed. "Wait until you're able to survive one."

Skypaw nodded, then clawed her way up to a branch where she could see the battle well, and watched as Wolfpaw dashed out with the end of the ThunderClan party into the yowling mass of cats. She continued scanning the battlefield for hurt cats and, though many were clawed, none laid down too injured to move for a long time.

Then Skypaw saw Honeybelly fall limp under a pair of ShadowClan warriors. She tensed, watching the warrior to make sure it wasn't a trick- but no- the golden tabby remained bleeding on the ground after the other warriors moved on. Skypaw leaped down from the branch and raced onto the field, moving quickly past writhing knots of cats to the still warrior. She began dragging Honeybelly towards some bushes where he could lie out of sight and out of the way. She was halfway there when she was blindsided and pinned to the ground. She yowled as claws and teeth sank into her and she clawed back frantically, striking something soft occasionally- but her opponent wasn't letting her go. Soon enough she deliberately fell limp, giving up and closing her eyes, praying her opponent would let her go and leave her alone. Her ploy worked, and she felt the cat leap off of her. She cracked open her eyes and watched the dark shape move away, then she rolled to her paws and ran back to Honeybelly, finishing the task and racing back up the tree to lick her wounds and watch for more wounded.

She collected bodies of the wounded- Frostleaf was wounded badly in the leg and had to be helped off to the side, and Dawnwing and Flashtooth both collapsed. Skypaw no longer took rests- she just ran back out onto the field to collect whoever else was wounded too badly to continue. She didn't even notice when she started dragging away the ShadowClan wounded as well- she just saw an unconscious cat and pulled them away to bleed out on the sidelines rather than be trampled by the mass of fighting warriors.

At last ThunderClan beat back the ShadowClan party, thanks in part to Witherclaw's patrol, which had arrived late in the battle. Several of the cats Skypaw had dragged out early on were coming to- especially since not every cat had been bleeding to death, rather some of them had been hit hard or been cared for by the few conscious wounded. Aspenstar called the retreat, and the conscious ShadowClanners pulled away their own who couldn't walk.

Skypaw sat down and looked at herself. She was bloody all over, but as she licked it away she figured out that only about half of it was her own. Just a bite on her shoulder and plenty of claw marks on her belly, but mostly shallow wounds. She stood up and swayed, suddenly realizing that since she'd been running around the whole time since she'd been wounded she'd lost quite a bit of blood. A shoulder pushed up under hers, supporting.

"What happened to you?" Wolfpaw asked, concerned. "You were supposed to stay out of the battle."

"I got attacked while pulling Honeybelly away." Skypaw replied, leaning against him. "I pretended to fall unconscious and got whoever it was to leave me alone."

"And as soon as you became a traitor to ShadowClan you were fine." Foxstalk snarled, limping up to the apprentices.

"What?" Skypaw asked, startled. "I never!"

"I saw you helping their wounded." Foxstalk hissed. "What did they offer you to get you on their side? Or did you just volunteer?"

"My orders were to help the wounded- not just ThunderClan wounded, all the wounded. Besides, it's not like helping them did ThunderClan any harm."

"Any enemy warrior left alive is a threat in the future." Foxstalk growled.

"She was just helping." Wolfpaw shot back. "We won, anyway."

"She betrayed us today- no doubt their next attack will be on our unguarded camp when every warrior is out on patrol." Foxstalk accused.

"All I did was get some hurt warriors out of the way, I didn't fight anyone and I didn't pay attention to which clan the cats came from! They were hurt!"

"An admirable sentiment, Skypaw." Leapstar had approached as the argument heated up. "And yes, my orders were simply to help wounded cats. However, when it comes time for you to actually fight in battle, you may leave the enemy wounded alone, but helping them would be traitorous."

Skypaw nodded in acceptance and Leapstar turned to Foxstalk. "No more random accusations. If you have a concern you may inform me."

Foxstalk flattened his ears but moved away without making a reply. Skypaw sighed as she and Wolfpaw began heading back to camp.

"Well, I'm proud of what you did, Skypaw." Peppermouth had come up on Skypaw's other side. "I'm glad you seem to have thought about what I said."

"It was a good lesson." Skypaw replied with a smile. "Are you badly wounded?"

"No, I was lucky." Peppermouth replied. "Just a few small bites and scratches."

When they returned to camp, Briarpaw bounded over to greet the incoming patrol. "Skypaw! Are you okay?" he mewed, sliding in beside her.

"I'll be fine, I just need to lie down for a while." Skypaw meowed.

Briarpaw's eyes were wide. "Did you fight?"

"Not on purpose. Leapstar told me to get the badly wounded out of the way, and I got attacked while doing that."

"Oh." Briarpaw opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Foxstalk, who had approached again.

"Briarpaw! Come on, we're going hunting, since there are warriors who will need feeding and can't hunt for themselves." He meowed.

"See you later." Skypaw told her brother, ignoring Foxstalk as she and Wolfpaw went to the medicine den to get patched up.


	5. Chapter 1 Part 3

Part 3: Gathering

As the Gathering neared, the apprentices became tense. Skypaw and Briarpaw were jealous that Driftpaw, Dapplepaw, and Whitepaw would definitely go, having seniority. On the night of the Gathering, though, they were pleasantly surprised to hear that all of the apprentices were going.

As the group of cats made its way towards Fourtrees, Briarpaw and Skypaw raced each other, trying to see who could catch up to this cat or that cat the fastest- although sometimes they couldn't, and were stopped by some obstacle like a fallen tree or a stream (or rather, Tigerpaw was, while Skypaw flew over, but she wanted to keep the race fair) and the racing would start again. They got tired, though, and focused on keeping up. Thankfully, they soon arrived at Fourtrees. To the two new apprentices' surprise, they stopped at the top of the slope and waited for some signal. Skypaw sniffed: she could smell Riverclan and Shadowclan. Windclan had yet to arrive. She saw Leapstar wave her tail, and scrambled to avoid being trampled by the cats behind her racing into the clearing. She felt like the clan was a single unit, a creature with so many heads and pelts and tails, moving as one.

When they were in the clearing, the clan broke apart like an icicle hitting a stone. Briarpaw and Skypaw followed Fawnpaw and Wolfpaw towards a group of apprentices greeting each other and introducing new apprentices. It was obvious that a climbing competition was about to start. Skypaw suddenly felt very self-conscious about her wings. Would they think she would cheat if she joined?

There were so many cats, nobody immediately noticed her wings. Skypaw just listened to the conversations to learn the names. Only one really caught her attention.

"Yeah, right, Icepaw. The only winged cat in existence is _me_. I still don't believe Patchtail when he says he met a winged ThunderClan apprentice, you know how he gets."

"Skypaw, where are you _going?_ You're supposed to keep out of the way until Leapstar shows you to-"

Skypaw ignored her brother's protests and followed the voice.

"Just let me show you- she's in RiverClan, look, she's right over there!" Skypaw spotted the speaker, a powerful-looking white tom talking to a golden tabby that looked about her age- a golden tabby _with wings_. And the cat they were walking over to talk to was a mostly-black RiverClan apprentice, about their age, talking to her friend and once in a while resettling _her own wings!_

"Skypaw, what are you doing?" Briarpaw asked, nudging her.

"I'm not alone! I'm not the only one!" Skypaw mewed, leaping forward. She had gotten over her surprise and was running forward to greet the two strange apprentices. She stopped in front of them and the four looked at her in surprise. She wasn't sure what to say, so she held out her wings slightly and breathlessly said, "Hi." A moment passed.

"Hi." The golden tabby replied, breaking into a grin.

"Well, this is a surprise." Added the black she-cat. "I thought I was the only one."

"So did I!" Skypaw replied cheerfully. "I'm so glad I'm not the only one!"

"Too bad we're all in different Clans." The black she-cat pointed out.

"Who cares? We'll see each other at least once a moon." The golden tabby replied. "I'm Sunpaw, by the way."

"Moonpaw." Replied the black she-cat.

"Skypaw." Skypaw finished. "You think there's one of us in WindClan?" she asked, looking between the other two.

"Naturally." Moonpaw replied. "But they haven't shown up yet so we can't know for sure."

"When they come we should go see!" Skypaw suggested.

"No." Came the voice of Moonpaw's friend. She was a pretty calico with green eyes. "I don't know about you two, but Moonpaw's not supposed to make a big fuss or draw attention, and running across the clearing would be doing exactly that."

"Oh, come on, Tigerpaw," Moonpaw complained. "This could be important, since so far there are one of us in each Clan! If WindClan doesn't have a winged cat it could mean something!"

"You're not the medicine cat, leave omens to them." Tigerpaw mewed.

"I agree." Said Briarpaw unexpectedly. Skypaw jumped, not realizing he'd followed her there.

"Briarpaw?" Skypaw asked curiously.

"Well, remember what Leapstar said before we left." He said. Skypaw sagged. He was right; Leapstar had said keep out of the way and if she had to socialize, stick to the apprentices.

Sunpaw rounded on Icepaw. "You going to say anything?" he demanded. Icepaw shrugged. "Neither Aspenstar nor any warrior said to stay out of the way, but I wouldn't make a huge deal out of it. If you must go see, try to stay out of the way." He advised amiably.

"Right. How about you go see by yourself, and if you see a winged cat, you bring them here." Skypaw suggested.

Sunpaw nodded. "Good idea." He meowed. "See you in a bit."

"Hang on, I'm coming too." Icepaw meowed. "I'm big enough to help hide your wings."

Skypaw watched the two apprentices pad away, then looked back at Moonpaw. "So what's it like in RiverClan? Can you swim with your wings? Have you tried flying with wet wings?" She was curious and wanted to make friends. Moonpaw smiled and began telling her about RiverClan.

* * *

Rainpaw sighed, lying down under his bush. _Don't come out until the leaders start talking,_ Smallflame had told him. _And stay quiet until then._ He rolled over, accidentally rustling a branch, earning him a hissed reproach from his mentor Streamfall, who was sitting in front of his bush, guarding him but pretending just to chat with other warriors.

 _Sorry I have wings! I didn't ask to be special!_ Rainpaw thought angrily.

"Psst! You in there!" a voice hissed from outside the Gathering. Rainpaw started but managed not to make noise and scrambled around to look at the speaker. It was a white tabby tom, not much older than he was.

"What?" he asked, even more quietly.

"Come out, I think you're the cat I'm looking for."

Hesitantly, Rainpaw crawled over to poke his head out from under the bush. "What makes you think that?" he asked suspiciously, his gaze raking over the white tom and another tom with him, a golden tabby.

The grinning golden tabby's shape seemed to change suddenly, and Rainpaw gasped. "You have wings too!" He squeaked, barely remembering to keep quiet.

"Told you." The white tom told the other winged cat. "Why else would he be hiding under a bush, guarded by a group of WindClan warriors?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're super smart. This furball is Icepaw," the tom looked at Rainpaw, "And I'm Sunpaw. I'm from ShadowClan. Come on, you want to come meet the ThunderClan and RiverClan winged apprentices?"

"I'm not supposed to leave the bush-"

"You can come back when the meeting starts and say you were making dirt. Come on, they're dying to make friends." Sunpaw meowed, and Rainpaw slowly came out from the bush.

"Ok." He said, glancing over his shoulder before going to follow the ShadowClan apprentice.

"So, what's your name?" Icepaw asked, running on Rainpaw's other side.

"Rainpaw." He replied. "What are the other cats' names?"

"ThunderClan's is a she-cat named Skypaw, and RiverClan's is a she-cat named Moonpaw." Sunpaw said. The two ShadowClan apprentices slowed and turned to enter the clearing, Icepaw more or less blocking them from view from most of the clearing. "This way."

Rainpaw nervously approached the knot of cats. A flecked, light-brown she-cat was animatedly telling a story to a black she-cat with a white spot on her chest and a calico she-cat, while a pale brown tabby tom at her side occasionally supplied something. As they approached, he caught the end of the story- "And then Ravenkit had to spend the rest of the afternoon helping Sharpstone clean up, but I never saw a kit happier to be sorting herbs." Rainpaw spotted her wings and assumed this must be Skypaw, and the black she-cat must be Moonpaw. He turned to ask Sunpaw who the others were, but Sunpaw was already trotting up to them, and Icepaw was nudging him forward.

"This is Rainpaw." Sunpaw announced to the group. Rainpaw smiled nervously.

"Hello, Rainpaw." Moonpaw greeted him.

"You're Moonpaw, right? And then you're Skypaw?" Rainpaw asked, his eagerness showing though his nerves, though his flinched every time a warrior passed.

"Don't be so nervous!" Skypaw meowed, coming over to greet him.

"Well, I'm supposed to be hiding in a bush at the edge of the clearing." Rainpaw muttered. "If someone catches me I'm dead."

"Well, we can come back to your bush if you like." Skypaw suggested.

"I'd rather not. I don't like hiding." Rainpaw muttered.

"Well, we wouldn't want you to get in trouble with your Clan." Moonpaw meowed, concerned.

"Maybe he could hang out here for a bit, then we could go back with him so he wouldn't be so alone." Suggested the pale brown tom at Skypaw's side. "I'm Briarpaw, by the way, this featherball's brother." He added to Rainpaw.

"I don't know," put in the RiverClan-scented calico. "Wouldn't somebody notice a group as big as us leaving the clearing to hide Rainpaw?"

"What, with this big of a crowd tonight?" Sunpaw put in.

"It'll be fine, Tigerpaw." Moonpaw meowed. "We'll just walk like we know where we're going."

"I suppose that would work." Rainpaw mewed, cheering up.

The apprentices began chatting more amiably, though Icepaw and Sunpaw moved to block Rainpaw's wings from view, for which he was grateful. They got what was going on.

Not long after, the group stood up and walked together, slipping away and back toward Rainpaw's bush.

"Stay back for a bit." Rainpaw instructed. "They might have noticed I was gone. I'll signal you when it's safe, unless the meeting starts first. If that happens, just go back to wherever it is you're all supposed to be." He slipped under the branches, his tiny frame blurred by the forms of leaves and shadows.

"Where have you been?" Streamfall hissed, hearing him return.

"I had to go make dirt." He mewed in reply, looking wide-eyes up at her.

"With ShadowClan cats?" she asked skeptically. "I did follow your trail, though it did get confused and I lost it."

Rainpaw's heart skipped a beat. "Sh-ShadowClan cats? That's weird. I just went to find a more secluded bush, I don't know anything about ShadowClan cats. I did have a hard time finding my way back here-"

"That's why you weren't supposed to leave! Okay, well, it's time to come out anyway, the meeting's just about to start." She looked over the heads of the crowd to catch Smallflame's eye, who nodded and looked at Lightstar, who leaped up to the Great Rock to signal he was ready for the meeting to start.

"Finally!" Rainpaw meowed a little more loudly, hoping that his new friends would hear him and take their cue. "After the meeting can I go meet other apprentices? Bushes are boring."

"We'll see what Lightstar says." Streamfall said curtly.

Rainpaw sighed, his shoulders drooping. Streamfall had been much nicer before she'd been assigned to guard him during the Gathering. He supposed it was stress, and the next day she would be her normal self again.

The leaders had taken their places on the Great Rock, and Lightstar looked like he was itching to go first. Rainpaw swallowed nervously. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the other apprentices sneaking back into the meeting as the cats quieted.

"The prey is running well in WindClan. Wrensong has joined the ranks of our warriors, and Grasspaw, Breezepaw and Rainpaw have begun their training as apprentices. We have been particularly blessed by StarClan, however," Rainpaw shrank down, but Streamfall pushed him up.

"Stand tall," she hissed in his ear. "Be proud."

"In that our new apprentice Rainpaw has the heretofore unseen ability to fly!" Like he'd been told, Rainpaw held out his wings. He could hear titters from the other side of the Gathering and ducked his head, wishing he could disappear.

Lightstar looked disappointed and confused. He'd expected more awe, and he'd wanted to use this as an opportunity to show that WindClan too was blessed by StarClan.

Duckstar from Riverclan stepped forward. "I, for one, am surprised to see Rainpaw's most unusual gift. RiverClan also has little to report, except that we, too, have a winged apprentice. Petalpaw, Marigoldpaw, and Moonpaw all started their training, and Moonpaw, if you would be so kind-"

Moonpaw grudgingly raised her wings, black like her pelt, though the undersides each had a white spot like the one on her chest, as all the cats could now see. However, only her friends, sitting nearby, could see her mouth twist at her dislike of being watched. As soon as her leader began speaking again, she folded her wings.

"Fish have been plentiful this season and the borders have been peaceful." Duckstar finished. "Leapstar?"

Leapstar padded forward. "ThunderClan has been equally blessed, both in terms of prey and new apprentices. Briarpaw and Skypaw have begun their training, Skypaw-"

Skypaw didn't bother listening to the rest of her sentence, briefly opening her wings to show the cats gathered and then folding them, not liking the strange looks they were getting as cats pondered the meaning of a winged cat in each Clan.

"I feel as if I barely need report," Aspenstar meowed as he stepped forward. "Dustspots has joined the ranks of our warriors. Our newest apprentices are Swiftpaw and Sunpaw, Sunpaw being our addition to the sky." Sunpaw opened a wing carelessly and closed it. Skypaw could see his chest trembling and realized he was fighting back laughter. She had also been highly amused when Lightstar had made his announcement, though now she was thoughtful. Moonpaw had mentioned earlier that one in each clan was significant, but she hadn't thought much about it until she realized how much other cats cared about the whole 'winged' thing. But Aspenstar continued. "Prey is not running so well in ShadowClan, but for now we are managing. Much as I hate to say it, this time next moon ShadowClan may not be able to feed itself off of our current territory."

"Sunpaw, are ShadowClan really struggling?" Skypaw asked her friend as the meeting broke up.

Sunpaw looked uncomfortable. "It's true that there's less prey now than there used to be," he mewed, "But I'm sure we'll be able to manage." He looked around as another cat greeted him, as Skypaw sank into a moment of thoughtful silence.

"See you next Gathering, I hope." Moonpaw meowed, surprising her out of her reverie.

"Yeah! Or maybe we'll see each other on border patrol." Skypaw replied with a smile.

Moonpaw laughed. "I hope not, since if we meet the wrong way we'll have to fight each other."

"We could fight other cats," Skypaw mewed, "Or just know that we have to and still be friends during Gatherings."

"I'll think about that." Moonpaw meowed, padding back to her mentor.

Skypaw nodded, then looked at Sunpaw. "We have a little time- want to go catch Rainpaw? We'd have to pretend we're only just meeting him."

"Piece of cake." Sunpaw meowed. By this time they were the only two apprentices left of their original large group, Briarpaw having gone to sit with his mentor during the Gathering and Icepaw having already gone back to ShadowClan.

Together they ran over to Rainpaw, whose face lit up at their approach. "Hey, Rainpaw!" Sunpaw called.

"We just wanted to meet you before we all had to go home." Skypaw put in quickly before anybody made a mistake.

"I'm just glad I'm not the only one." Rainpaw sighed. "Imagine the kind of pressure that would be!" They all laughed.

"Don't have to." Skypaw assured him.

"See you in a moon, I hope!" Sunpaw added. "But my mentor's calling." He ran off.

"Have fun training," Skypaw added. "You're lucky, you don't have to fight through trees to get airborne on your territory."

"But I won't be as agile." Rainpaw objected.

Skypaw snorted. "Yeah, but you won't get nearly as bruised. Anyway, see you!" She too ran off, back to Peppermouth and ThunderClan.

"Interesting Gathering." Peppermouth mewed as they set off; similar sentiments, with varying degrees of disappointment and curiosity echoed across every patrol leaving the Gathering, and every camp for a few days afterward.

* * *

 _Welcome to the end of Chapter 1. I'm currently in the middle of writing up Chapter 2 but when I have the first draft done I will post a list of updated allegiances, as Chapter 2 will not take place in ThunderClan- in fact, I don't think the story will return there until Chapter 3 or 4._


End file.
